Sunday, February 16, 2014

kymberz chicken and veg curry!

this curry is a combination of a few recipes that i have played with and tweaked over the years. it is full of flavourful spices, but it isn't hot! you can make it hotter by adding hot sauce if you like! you can also add whichever vegetables you have on hand, and they can be fresh or frozen!

Ingredients for the curry paste:

2 cups of plain yogurt - you can use fat-free but where is the fun in that?!?!?
1, 2, 3 or 4 chicken breasts, depending on how much chicken you want in there. for this recipe i used one large chicken breast, chopped up into bite-size pieces
4tsp of curry powder
2tsp ground coriander
1tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it hotter)
1tsp cumin
1tsp turmeric (i use 2 tspns because turmeric is so good for you!)
oil as needed for sauteeing the veg below (you can use EVOO, almond or get crazy like i did and use walnut oil - it adds a nice nutty flavour!)
the juice of half a lemon
4 garlic cloves (i used 6 big ones because we love garlic!), crushed
a big knob of fresh ginger, crushed
a nice dash of salt and pepper

Step 1: combine all of the above ingredients in a big bowl. it should look a little something like this:

2. Mix it all together and dump your cubed chicken in and be sure to coat all of the chicken.

3. Set the chicken aside and let it marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes. while you are waiting on the chicken - prepare your veg ingredients.

the list of veg ingredients will vary depending on what veg you have on hand. my list of veg ingredients follows:

now some people might call me crazy for this next step but trust me that the time and effort is worth it! so....

Step 4: use a high-sided stainless steel sauteeing pan. toss in some oil as needed. as i mentioned, i used walnut oil.

Step 5: once the oil is heated toss in your onion. keep stirring it around until it starts to carmelize and leave some brown bits on the bottom of the pan. remove the cooked onion to a container.

Step 6: another splash of oil in the pan, you'll be able to tell how much you need. you only want to be able to coat the veg and then give them a nice quick sautee. so now, toss in your carrots. brown them a little and then remove them to a container.

Step 7: more oil. toss in the broccoli and cauliflower. stir them around. coat them in the oil. brown them a little and then remove them.

Step 8: you guessed it! another splash of oil. toss in the potatoes. stir 'em around to coat and let them brown.

Step 9: take the chicken cubes out of the marinade and shake off as much marinade as possible back into the bowl. add more oil to your pan. toss in the marinated chicken. stir it around and don't worry about the beautiful curry sauce that might be sticking to your pan - you want that! when the chicken is cooked through, remove it.

here's a pic of all of the suspects sauteed:

Step 10: throw some oil into the pan. now dump in your chopped tomatoes. stir them around and squish them with whatever utensil you are using. the tomatoes will release a lot of water and juices and by constantly stirring them, you are deglazing the pan of all of the brown bits left by the veg, as well as some of the curry sauce left from the chicken. sorry for the blurry pic!

Step 11: toss the potatoe cubes in with the tomatoes and stir on a med-high temperature - you want to bring the potatoes to a boil. they will need about 5-7 mins in order to become fork-tender. don't overcook them as they will still be cooking for a few more minutes when the other veg are added.

Step 12: once the potatoes are fork tender, toss in all the other veg and the chicken. toss in the frozen peas. let the sauce and veg come up to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and cover for anywhere between 5-15 mins, depending on how crispy you like your veg to be.

and then serve!

i forgot to take a picture of the warmed up pita bread that i also served with this. the pita is good for wiping up the delicious curry sauce. we usually make this for supper and because it is so full of veg, you don't really need to serve it with anything other than a small salad, or in this case, blood oranges and sprouts. there is another meal for dinner (lunch) tomorrow, and then there will be enough left to have served over rice the following day. you can adjust how much you make by halving or doubling the recipe. i don't know if this freezes well or not - we just eat it until it is gone!

i hope that you enjoy this recipe and if you have any questions just ask in the comments!

5 comments:

hey Jane - ya, sometimes i like to use walnut oil when i make the curry with yoghurt. if i make it with coconut milk, i like to use almond oil. it's all about the flavour combinations and i have tried all kinds of different oils with different curries to see which ones we like best. go get yourself some, it's a bit expensive but you really don't use much of it. and it stores forever.

hey Sweet Sandy - i saw the pics of those trouts - woohoo - they were gorgeous! and it is never too late for you, DBMan, Tank and Beans to drop in - drop in anytime gurl!!! sending love and hugs back to all of you!